Browse Articles

Learning to remove occlusions in light field images using multiscale receptive fields and feature pyramid networks

Combined SNP parental haplotyping and intensity analysis identifies meiotic and mitotic aneuploidies and frequent segmental aneuploidies in preimplantation human embryos

Abstract Genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping using microarrays and karyomapping (parental haplotyping) is a universal linkage-based method for preimplantation genetic testing of monogenic disease (PGT-M) and identification of chromosome aneuploidies, including meiotic trisomies, monosomies and deletions. Following IVF, embryos are biopsied at the blastocyst stage and several trophectoderm cells removed. Both parents, a close relative of known disease status and the biopsy samples are genotyped and parental haplotypes analysed. Here we extended the method by combining parental haplotyping with parental intensity ratio analysis. This enables identification of meiotic and mitotic, whole and segmental aneuploidies at high resolution. In 342 cycles of PGT-M in couples with a mean maternal age of 32.9 ± 4.2 (SD), 37% (471/1270) of the biopsy samples were identified as aneuploid with an almost equal number of meiotic and mitotic aneuploidies. Meiotic aneuploidies were predominantly whole chromosome aneuploidies of maternal origin and increased with maternal age. Mitotic aneuploidies (with normal biparental haplotype patterns) were mainly segmental imbalances. For PGT of aneuploidy (PGT-A) in infertile couples, identifying meiotic aneuploidies, which are almost all non-viable, provides a valuable option to minimise the discard of embryos with only mitotic aneuploidies of unknown clinical outcome.

Cigarette filters as a major source of microfibers in aquatic environments

Controlled Synthesis of Lipoate Homopolymers via Reversible Addition–Fragmentation Chain Transfer Polymerization

Identification of biomarkers associated with glycolysis and lactation in sarcopenia

Sevoflurane, as opposed to pentobarbital anesthesia, attenuates LPS-induced myocardial injury by up-regulating TAF1D

Chemical Construction of Molecular Truss Lattices with Tunable Topologies

Quantifying child growth effects using height-age instead of height-for-age z-scores in a meta-analysis of small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplement trials

Abstract Height-age is the age at which growth-faltered children’s average observed height or length equals the median height or length of a child growth standard, corresponding to a length-for-age z-score (LAZ) of 0. In randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), expression of linear growth outcomes using height-age may enhance the interpretability of intervention effects compared to conventional use of LAZ. Height-age can be used to derive the proportion of maximal benefit (PMB), whereby PMB = 0% indicates no effect and PMB = 100% indicates the intervention promoted growth at the rate expected for healthy children with the same starting height-age. In this proof-of-concept study, height-age and PMB were compared to LAZ in a meta-analysis of RCTs of small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS). Pooling across 15 trials in 10 LMICs, mean differences (MD; SQ-LNS minus control) in LAZ and height-age were 0.15 (95%CI: 0.12, 0.17) and 12 days (95%CI: 9, 14), respectively (N = 36,970). LAZ MD and height-age MD were highly correlated (rho = 0.74 overall and 0.94 upon exclusion of an outlier). The pooled PMB indicated that SQ-LNS achieves 11% of optimal growth potential (95% CI: [9.4, 12]; N = 19,768; 12 comparisons), but there was a substantial impact of between-trial heterogeneity (I 2  = 90%). In conclusion, the effect of SQ-LNS on linear growth can be alternatively expressed in terms of height-age instead of LAZ. The PMB may enhance the interpretability of effect estimates by quantifying the extent to which an intervention improves growth in relation to a biological threshold, but further research is required to establish its validity and usefulness for assessing and comparing intervention effectiveness.

Unlocking Difluorocarbene as a Fluorocarbanion and a Fluorocarbon Radical Precursor for Sequential Catalytic Coupling

Comprehensive mapping of the signaling events evoked by SARS-CoV-2 variants delta and omicron in human astrocytes

A novel multi objective energy efficient clustering optimization scheme based on heuristic intelligence for wireless sensor networks

Legendre polynomial transformation and energy-weighted random forests for sequential data classification

An enhanced blood-sucking leech optimization for training feedforward neural networks

Novel heat exchanger in extracorporeal circuit: technical and biological feasibility

Abstract To evaluate a novel anticoagulation strategy in an extracorporeal circuit, we introduce a device that induces local hypothermia as blood flows through the circuit. Using a pig model, we assessed its technical feasibility, biocompatibility, and safety. Sixteen pigs were randomly assigned to either the cooled group or the control group and underwent midline laparotomy to establish extracorporeal circulation (blood flow 500 ml/min) via the caudal vena cava for up to four hours. Blood samples were collected at baseline and at 15, 60, and 240 min during the experiment. In the cooled group, blood was cooled to 20 °C and then rewarmed to 37 °C, while in the control group, blood was maintained at 37 °C. A total of 6 cooled and 4 control pigs completed 4 h of the experiment. Our findings confirm the technical feasibility of the proposed device, which effectively maintained the required temperature differentials while keeping the pressure differentials in the circuit within 150 mmHg. No issues with circuit patency were observed. Additionally, no adverse effects were detected on erythrocyte stability. Within the limitation of the short observation period, no adverse effects were observed on renal, liver, or cardiac function. Our data suggest that local hypothermia in the extracorporeal circuit may mitigate surgery-induced inflammation.

Decision support system based on AHP and PROMETHEE under rough pythagorean fuzzy set information for selection of basketball team

Metal-Free Reduction of Nitrous Oxide via P ^III /P ^V ═O Cycling: Mechanistic Insights and Catalytic Performance

Assessment and evolution analysis of urban infrastructure resilience under flood disaster scenarios based on the PSR model and extension catastrophe progression

Bearing characteristics and control measures of coal rib under the condition of composite roof in deep mining

Sleep recovery alleviates impaired glucose tolerance induced by sleep fragmentation possibly through gut microbiota in mice

Interactions of flower visitors with bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) and effects of right target and wrong target flower visits on plant reproduction

Abstract Studying flower visitors, visitation patterns, and pollinator effectiveness can provide valuable insights into the interactions between plants and pollinators. Bitter gourd ( Momordica charantia ), a key vegetable crop, relies on flower visitors, especially pollinators. However, the specific role of wild pollinators and the impact of different visit types on bitter gourd pollination remain unclear. We aimed to uncover plant–pollinator interactions on the crop species. We recorded the flower visitors and their visitation patterns, categorising visits as right target when the visitor collected floral resources, and as wrong target when the visitor did not collect any resources from the flowers. We also determined the impacts of two types of flower visits on plant reproduction based on pollen deposition and the resulting fruit and seed sets after a single visit by different pollinators. Several insect species visited bitter gourd flowers, while the most abundant and effective pollinators (based on the pollination service index, PS i ) were Apis cerana , Apis dorsata , Apis florea , Austronomia ustula , Lasioglossum albescens , Lasioglossum cavernifrons , Lasioglossum funebre , and Nomia ( Hoplonomia ) elliotii . Most visitors, especially bees, made both the right target and the wrong target visits to female flowers. In addition to the right target visits, pollinators deposited significant pollen grains on flower stigmas via wrong target visits, leading to fruit and seed sets. These findings highlight the overlooked yet crucial role of wrong target visits in pollination and reproductive success.